Greens in homemade food

[Keri]

Hi all
Well, I think I'm ready to attempt to make my own frozen food mix and I was wondering what the best thing to add to it for greens would be?
I plan on heading to the seafood market with this list of possiblities for the "meaty" stuff
hake
haddock
scallops
mussles
sole
tillapia
clam
shrimp
squid

plus I will add fresh garlic and selcon or zoecon (I'm going to go look at what the LSF in town has)

and I have green nori allready but is there anything else green I could/should be adding? Is spinach good? or lettuce? (or are these not very high in nutrients?)


Thanks all!!

[tlo]

I always just add the nori......But maybe there is a benefit to adding different greens that I will learn here, interested to see what other people have to say.

[sick lid]

I always use spirulina and frozen brocoli (not the stocks)

[marie]

I pm'd this to you Keri, but in case anyone else is interested I'll post it here

This is Eric Bornemans recipe, it's as much for the corals as it is for the fish

Eric's "famous" coral food recipe

I rarely have or use all of the ingredients listed, and I don't think it will make a difference over the long term. I also use this, or a variation of it, for my homemade fish food (I leave the fish food chunkier and add various algae). Basically, I either use what is left over from the last round of food-making, or I go to a few stores and get whatever they might have at the time. I feed this to the tank day and at night, generally, and would add that for some of the ingredients, I have no idea if they have any specific role. Its just what I have done before. I have also changed a bit with some other foods now available (since I have written this last time)

I try to get a mix of particle sizes involved to accomodate not just all sizes of polyps, but also feed other inverts that filter feed.

Fresh seafood:

Some combination of the ingredients below and it makes up a relatively small percent of the total - maybe 10-20%?

shrimp (I squeeze the heads and usually use some of the "meat" in the fish food)
oysters - blend well (may have Vibriostatic properties)
various other shellfish (mussels, clams, periwinkles, etc. - the bloodier, the better...live is great (shucking is a pain but gives a good final product)
Fish roe (sometimes available at Asian markets as fresh)


Frozen foods

This makes up perhaps 20-30% of the mix - some are from an aquarium store, some from the grocer, some can be cultured

Artemia - adult
Artemia nauplii (baby brine shrimp) (enriched, if possible)
Mysid shrimp
Sea urchin roe
Flying fish roe
Rotifers
DT's oyster eggs - this is a new additions and one of my very favorite coral foods. Particle size and nutrition is excellent.

Dried Aquarium Foods

this makes up the majority of my mix - probably 40%

Golden Pearls - all sizes available, but a majority of the smallest size
Cyclop-Eeze
VibraGro
Powdered marine flake

Phytoplankton - doesn't need to be alive since the mix is frozen, but make sure it is high quality. I don't expect it does much, but just in case some of the species utilize it, great. If not, the zooplankton and other filter feeders wiil -makes up maybe 2% of mix or less?

Supplements

makes up maybe 2-5% of mix?

Super Selco ( a big squeeze)
Sea Green Vitamin supplements - various brands, powdered, from Whole Foods market

I have also been known to add Echinacea capsules, the skins of colorful vegetables and fruits, various pigment complexes of carotenoids, etc. and/or antioxidants from Whole Foods market. I am also now adding SeaVive, a beta glucan/vitamin C and protein complex (all natural) into my fish foods, which due to its powdered form, also will potentially be a coral food.

In terms of preparation, I puree the solid seaoods, mix in the frozen thawed ingredients, soak the dry/powdered ingredients in the wet ingredients, combine them all together and let them sit for a few hours, and then freeze them into small flats in ziplocs in the freezer. I usually wind up with about 50.00 in foods per batch and make about a gallon or so of food that lasts a couple or more months.

If I have live cultures going, I add them when its time. I have no qualms about making the tank absolutely cloudy with food, though do not feed this heavily all the time. I try to feed every night, but miss some nights. Some nights I give them the holy grail and just pour in food so it resides for at least an hour, and then skim the rest out.